I just caught the webcast of the Genesis press conference in the UK announcing some important Genesis news, including details about an upcoming tour, and the release of the long-awaited surround sound versions of all of their studio albums. While there is no new Genesis music in the works, there is still plenty for Genesis fans to look forward to in the coming year.

Genesis will be touring in 2007 with the three-man line-up of Tony Banks, Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford. As always, Chester Thompson and Daryl Stuermer will be filling out the lineup. The “collection of shows” (as Collins calls it–remember, he quit “touring”) will be comprised of 20 dates in Europe, followed by 20 shows in the U.S. at mostly stadiums. Since there is no new Genesis being recorded, they will be performing songs from many of their sixteen classic albums. Collins mentioned that while they might do an instrumental medley, they will opt for the full versions of their earlier songs, as the medleys they had done in the past were an attempt to please everyone, but in the end, pleased nobody. Peter Gabriel was also in talks to perform again with Genesis at a future time, and that has not yet been ruled out, but it will not happen on this tour. And because of this, Steve Hackett will also not be a part of the tour either.

The bigger news for some of us is that the 5.1 surround mixes of the Genesis studio albums are finally going to be released! They are going to come out in three batches, and will contain both a high-resolution SACD and a surround DVD-V (with DTS and/or Dolby Surround) in the same package, so everyone can listen. The discs will also include a stereo mix, but be warned that these are new mixes created for this project, not the originals. (All the more reason to hang onto your current Genesis discs.) The release schedule is as follows:

March 2007: A Trick Of The Tail (1976), Wind & Wuthering (1977), …And Then There Were Three…(1978), Duke (1980) Abacab (1981)

June/July 2007: Genesis(1983), Invisible Touch(1986), We Can’t Dance (1991), Calling All Stations(1997)

Late 2007/Early 2008: Trespass (1970), Nursery Cryme (1971), Foxtrot (1972 ), Selling England By The Pound (1973), The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway(1974)

If you want an early preview of what the surround mixes are like, be sure to pick up the Genesis Video Show DVD.